A Utopian Stage
Exhibition

A Utopian Stage

This event ran from February 9 to March 30, 2024. Explore the archive below.

See the full project: programs, the Shiraz Arts Festival, press and credits →

A Utopian Stage, curated by Vali Mahlouji (Archaeology of the Final Decade) and presented by Bowerbird and Asian Arts Initiative, unearths the history of the Festival of Arts, Shiraz-Persepolis, an international performance festival held annually in Iran from 1967 to 1977. After the 1979 rise of the Islamic regime in Iran, the Festival was banned and many of its archives were destroyed. The exhibition brings together more than ten years of Mahlouji’s research, with rare photographs, audio, video, catalogues, graphic arts and ephemera, alongside a cultural atlas of the era and a series of performances by living artists that evoke the ethos of the Festival.

On view: February 9 to March 30, 2024
Gallery hours: Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, 2 to 6pm
Location: Asian Arts Initiative, Main Gallery and Storefront Gallery, 1219 Vine Street, Philadelphia

Major support for A Utopian Stage has been provided by The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage, with additional support from the Musical Fund Society of Philadelphia.

From the archive

Press 2 articles

  • February 16, 2024A forgotten Iranian arts festival from the 1970s is explored in an Asian Arts Initiative exhibit
    WHYY    Read
  • March 28, 2024How a Revolutionary Iranian Arts Festival Inspired Vali Mahlouji's Interdisciplinary Exhibit at Asian Arts Initiative
    Al-Bustan Seeds of Culture    Read